Queen Elizabeth's Priceless Reaction to Kate Middleton and Prince William's Renovated Kitchen

Mar. 15, 2025

Queen ElizabethandKate Middletonshare many of the same attributes — they both value discretion, loyalty and duty — but their differences were on display during one of the Queen’s visits toAnmer Hall.

Kate andPrince William’s country home, which they moved into in 2015 after a major renovation, may be on the Queen’s estate in Norfolk, but it’s an unstuffy one, where Kate has been known to come to the door with the kids and one of her lasagnas baking in the oven.

The Queen, however, is distinctly unlikely to sit in any kitchen to eat!

“I remember when they had just finished renovating Anmer Hall, and they invited the Queen over for lunch,” Sally Bedell Smith, author ofElizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

“They have one of those big kitchens with eating areas, and she said, ‘I can’t understand why everybody spends their time in the kitchen.'”

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William and Kate Middleton.GEOFF PUGH/POOL/AFP via Getty

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Kate and William will have even more opportunities to invite the Queen over for lunch as the royal couple are planning a move from London to Windsor, where their children —Prince George, 9,Princess Charlotte, 7, andPrince Louis, 4 — will start a new school.

Anmer Hall.Indigo/Getty

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 5.Samir Hussein/WireImage

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They “are representing the Queen impeccably,” Bedell Smith tells PEOPLE. “They’re showing a kind of dedication she would be proud of. And that probably gives her hope.”

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source: people.com